Friday, December 31, 2010

SPIRITUALITY AT ITS BEST IN 2010 = 2011 THE HARBINGER OF THE BEST OF JOY

SPIRITUALITY AT ITS BEST

FROM
WISESPIRITUALIDEAS.BLOGSPOT.COM

THE YEAR THAT WAS : 2010

This Blog  greets all its readers a very joyful, prosperous, peaceful NEW YEAR, 2011, with new initiatives enlightening our path.

As the readers are aware, true to its declaration, this blog strove to bring the best of spirituality to your presence, from different religions of the world, during 2010.

The TOPICS which we covered in 2010 are :












I have had the privilege of undergoing coaching / teaching / training under some of the greatest contemporary GURUs of India at different points of time. This was because of my stay at different places of India throughout my service and my eagerness to avail the benefit of the Grace of every Great Guru who passed through those places.

The Gurus, under whom I took some coaching / training etc include :

(1)     Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
(2)     Sri Sri Ravishankar
(3)     Swami Sukhabodhananda
(4)     Swami RamDevji
(5)     Swami Paramarthananda

Each of these Great Gurus is Unique in his approach.

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev’s training methods into Patanjali Yoga are simple, direct and  very far-reaching. He takes you to the peaks in Yoga.

Sri Sri Ravishankar, even while teaching Yoga, spreads the message of love and universal peace in a very effective way. His Sudarshan Kriya is Fantastic.

Swami Sukhabodhananda blends spirituality in a masterly way, with ordinary life. His Life Program and other programs touch the very core of the participants.

Swami RamDevji’s Yoga – Pranayama, Asana, Bandhas, Kriyas etc - coupled with his great attention on physical and mental health is benefitting  Crores of people in India and abroad. For Pure health benefits, there is probably nothing in the world like Swami Ramdevji’s combination of asanas, pranayamas etc.

Swami Paramarthananda is one of the  best traditional teachers who is teaching Vedantha for the last about four decades. Some of his students are also attending his classes for approximately the same time. I do not know if the complete gamut of Vedanta is being taught in this masterly fashion any where else at present. His classes are extraordinarily simple and deep.

There are many other great contemporary Gurus in India. But I have had the benefit of training / listening / coaching under the above Gurus. I am extremely grateful to these contemporary Gurus and I will endeavour to spread their message through this Blog in my humble way.

The Gurus of the past who influenced me in spirituality include all time greats like :

(1)     Adi Sankaracharya
(2)     Bhagawn Ramana Mahrshi
(3)     Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
(4)     Swami Vivekananda
(5)     OSHO
(6)     Bhagawan Buddha
(7)     Jesus Christ
(8)     Guru Nanak
(9)     Vardhaman Mahavira
(10) Patanjali Maharshi
And many others.
The names are in no particular order.

Whether to call Lord Krishna as Guru or almighty God  is a matter for thinking. His Bhagawad Gita is the best of teaching from India to any one. In 2010, I have covered his Karma Yoga in this blog to some extent and will endeavour to bring out the more subtle aspects  of Karma Yoga in my blog in 2011 and follow it up with other chapters of Gita.

Adi Sankara’s Advaitha philosophy is a master piece of all times. I have covered some of his works like Atma Bodha, Maneesha Panchakam and Nirvana Shatkam in 2010. I must acknowledge that my interpretation is on the lines of Swami Paramarthananda to a great extent, though, I may have added my own thinking gained from some other great philosophers also. In my view, Adi Sankara was a revolutionary and reformist of his times – but, in the sense that he only demolished existing superstitions and brought out the pristine purity of the most scientific, ancient Vedanta back to lime light.
I will continue my efforts to understand and bring to the readers’ attention his other works also in future.

Spirituality is not removed from worldly life. 

It is said – The body is a temple and the jeeva is the almighty and the beginningless one residing therein. We need to guard this temple, keep it healthy and clean too. 

The Journey in spirituality is - to enhance our joy and make it absolute and permanent. If 2010 resulted in more of joy, our journey is on the right lines. Else, not. Spirituality, as OSHO says, is not life negative. It definitely is not. A spiritualist enjoys his life much more than others. This is what all the Gurus teach. This is also the best indication of whether we are on right track in spirituality.

May our spiritual journey in 2011 result in the greatest Joy for all of us.

=V.VIJAYAMOHAN=
(FROM- WISESPIRITUALIDEAS.BLOGSPOT.COM)

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Monday, December 27, 2010

GREAT QUOTES FROM = SADHGURU JAGGI VASUDEV = IX TH SERIES = WORDS OF WISDOM




WORDS OF WISDOM

from

SADHGURU
JAGGI VASUDEV

Date : 27th,December, 2010

Dear Readers,

It is time again to read and digest the (new) words of wisdom from the Sadhguru. I am giving below 22 of them. 

In each of them, our ACTION PART, I have made them bold, in italics, so that we can recognize what we need to address – so that the conditions and consequences will flow from our actions.

1.  It is best that your life happens because of your own clarity and ability, not by chance or the compassion and kindness of somebody else.

2.  Ignoring the source of creation and trying to conduct your life yourself is a terribly egoistic and ignorant attitude towards life.

3.  When we are living on a planet with limited resources and the engine of economics is driving our lives, war is inevitable, peace is impossible.

4.  Perception means perceiving what is there without lacing it with imagination. If your perception and your imagination get mixed up, you are confused.

5.  If you bring the quality of prayerfulness into your life, your life will become very beautiful.

6.  It is very important to simplify your survival process so that the deeper dimensions of who you are finds expression in your life.

7.  Because of impressions that you have gathered within you, you develop certain tendencies. According to these tendencies, you function.

8.  When you start thinking that nobody in the world is okay, only you are perfect, this is the first sign of insanity.

9.  The moment you think you know, it gives you confidence. You have chosen confidence against knowing simply because you somehow want to win the race.

10.              If you are able to see the process of life the way it is, it gives you the power and the capability to walk through life effortlessly.

11.              If you fall back into your original nature, joyfulness will be your way of being.

12.              The body was created to house that which you call as my self. But because of limited perception, the body became more important than what it houses.

13.             Right now, you are existing within certain physical, mental and emotional limitations. Liberation means to go beyond these limitations.

14.              Whether it was Gautama Buddha, Jesus or Krishna, the process they started was to raise you beyond your limitations and know the freedom of being divine.

15.              The difference between a fool and an intelligent person is, an intelligent person knows how foolish he is, a fool does not know.

16.     Yoga and Meditation is that Dimension of science that handles your interiority so that you can live a joyous and peaceful life.

17.      How can you live an effective life without knowing anything about your self?

18.   Life is not going to be kind to you if you are confident without clarity.

19.     The clearer your perception is, the more, fear disappears from your life.

20.       Anything that grows out of fear, greed or guilt cannot lead to human well-being. These are not wonderful things within you; these are the ugliest parts of you, these are what make life’s experience ugly. Only when you’re happy, loving and generous, your life is beautiful.

21.   Human potential is distorted because people are in competition.

22.       The whole process of spiritual science, yoga in particular, is to somehow elevate you to an experience that is beyond the five sense organs.

PS: READERS  can find the earlier  Great Quotes from Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev = in the following URLs of this BLOG  :-

http://wisespiritualideas.blogspot.com/2010/08/sadhguru-jaggi-vasudev-words-of-wisdom.html
http://wisespiritualideas.blogspot.com/2010/06/words-of-wisdom-sadhguru-jaggi-vasudev.html
http://wisespiritualideas.blogspot.com/2010/05/sadhguru-jaggi-vasudev-words-of-wisdom.html
http://wisespiritualideas.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html
http://wisespiritualideas.blogspot.com/2010_05_01_archive.html
http://wisespiritualideas.blogspot.com/2010/12/great-quotres-from-sadhguru-jaggi.html


                 Please enjoy the above quotes also - and kindly leave your comments, suggestions…etc- which will be gratefully received.

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Thursday, December 23, 2010

GREAT AND POPULAR QUOTES OF JESUS CHRIST = HAPPY CHRISTMAS = 25TH DEC 2010



JESUS CHRIST

GREAT AND POPULAR QUOTES

INTRODUCTION

Some men exercise extraordinary influence on Human life, centuries after their departure from earthly life.

Krishna, Buddha, Christ and Muhammad are foremost amongst them. 

There are also other ALL-TIME  greats like Guru Nanak, Mahavira, Confucius etc whose followers are enthralled by the wisdom given to them by these Gurus.

KRISHNA :

Krishna (You can spell it, if you like, as CHRISTNA) is the Oldest amongst these all-time greats, being 5000 years (at the least) before our time.

He was born in a prison in secrecy, when his father and mother were in Jail. The king of the land (a daemon king) had forebodings that the God incarnate was being born to these parents who were in the prison and their child was the chosen one to kill him and end his cruel rule. He therefore killed all the children  born in the city (many) and in the prison (about seven) mercilessly. 

Readers can find similarities in this event with that of the birth of Jesus. When Lord Krishna was born finally, his father took him out of the prison, with divine assistance, to a Cowherd’s house far away and lodged him there. Krishna grew there in the Cowherd’s family and loved to be a cowherd, just as Jesus loved to be a shepherd. 

Lord Krishna taught love and non-violence of a very rare nature. He himself condoned hundred sins committed (against himself) by chis sworn opponents, despite being the greatest warrior of his times. Likewise, he took part in the Mahabharat war, as a charioteer of his friend and disciple, after assuring both the warring sides, who sought his support,  that he will not touch a weapon or kill a person in the war on either side.

His Bhagavad Gita is an extraordinary exposition of Life in all of its aspects. It is at the least, over 5000 years Old. Whether it is Karma Yoga (the science of action), Dhyana Yoga (the science of meditation), Jnana Yoga (the science of wisdom / knowledge) or Bhakthi Yoga (the science of surrender and love), Lord Krishna expounded all these sciences in a masterly fashion and commended them to humanity as the most scientific methods of living. His followers like Mahatma Gandhi have given the contemporary world a new way of life and a new definition of love and non-violence (in line with the teachings of Lord Krishna) and that continues to exercise significant influence on the way the world lives today.

BUDDHA :

Buddha, the second in this chronological order, was born around 565 B.C. He had enthralled his followers with his extremely simple, sensible and highly logical preaching. His four great truths, his eight fold path and the path for Nirvana (liberation) that he enunciated continue to be followed in their pristine purity by the Buddhist monks to this day. In a world where money, power and other worldly pleasures hold so much sway, we find Buddhist monks smiling all the time and emitting the radiance of the Buddha.  Other Religions like Hinduism accept Buddha as a personification of the almighty, in line with Lord Krishna’s Gita saying, “ I will take birth, from time to time, to  bring back righteous living and end unrighteousness”. Buddha’s followers like the Dalai Lama continue to be an inspiration for West and East alike in simple living, high thinking and enlightened spirituality.

JESUS CHRIST:

The third in the chronological order is Jesus Christ, who lives in the hearts of humanity till this day, for over 2000 years. We will see more of him through his great sayings in this Blog post.

MUHAMMAD:

The fourth in the chronological order is Prophet Muhammad,  regarded by Muslims as a messenger and prophet of God. Prophet Muhammad had a profound civilizing influence on a war torn people and brought them into a highly disciplined and virtuous life. The five times a day Namaz itself, just as a piece of illustration of his contribution to humanity, is an extraordinary way of remembering God and remaining human all through life. It is difficult for any one, living or dead, to command so much obedience to his sayings, from so many Crores of men and women around the world, so voluntarily.
Thus, all these four great men had an extraordinary, civilizing influence on mankind. Theists and atheists both cannot ignore their contribution in the process of civilization.
The context for this Blog Post is however the 25th, December of this year, which is celebrated as CHRISTMAS, the day of Birth of the Christ.  Christians view him as the Messiah, foretold in the Old Testament and as the Son of God, who provided salvation and reconciliation with God to humankind by dying for their sins and then rising from the dead.

As we all know, Christ was born into a family of very humble origins. He was born when ignorance, superstition, greed, hatred and hypocrisy were prevailing at his birth place. His birth and the surrounding events are themselves magical and divine. It is significant that Lord Krishna  born over 5000 years ago in a jail, was also brought up in a very humble, cowherd’s family. Krishna loved to be a cowherd. And, Christ loved to be a shepherd. The then King was afraid of the birth of  Krishna and killed a number of children at that time to prevent the birth of Krishna. 

Compare this with the following incident as stated in Wikipedia web site, “King Herod hears of Jesus' birth from the Wise Men and tries to kill him by massacring all the male children in Bethlehem under the age of two (the "massacre of the innocents").[78][Mt 2:16-17] The family flees to Egypt and remains there until Herod's death, whereupon they settle in Nazareth to avoid living under the authority of Herod's son and successor Archelaus.[Mt 2:19–23]”
Krishna and Christ both chose a life and death according to their own wishes. There are many similarities in what they taught to the world. Both signified the dawn of a new era in the world.

Mahatma Gandhi says of Christ, “A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world..”. Gandhi followed Krishna, as much as he followed Christ. So do many in India and other countries. As in the case of Buddha, most Indians do believe that Christ was born just as the saying of Krishna goes, “ I will take birth,  from time to time, to  bring back righteous living and end unrighteousness”.

I will now present some of the most popular quotes of Jesus Christ below :. ~

GREAT QUOTES FROM JESUS CHRIST

1.    Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
MY COMMENTS : (i) Jesus himself has shown, how to ask, what to ask and when. (ii) Likewise, his life is example enough of what we must seek. (iii) Whose door shall we knock?? Is it not of the one, who says, I am the way.
2.    What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul.
MY COMMENTS: Buddha also says in a similar vein: All of our life, we are gathering all forms of dust of the earth – until we become the dust our self.
And, Jesus says – do not lose the soul in your search for profit in the world.
3.     Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
MY COMMENTS: All law, all Justice, all Dharma is summarized in this one, short sentence. Any law, rule or proclamation which violates this cardinal principle violates God’s own Law for mankind.You do want others to like you, love you, help you..then, do the same to others...love begets love..
4.    It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
MY COMMENTS: A rich man can’t leave his earthly possessions so easily. He earns them with great attachment and the attachment does not leave him even on his death. How does he then enter the Kingdom of heaven. In a similar vein Lord Krishna advocates Non-attachment as the principle requirement for salvation. Buddha too advocates the same.
5.    For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
MY COMMENTS: If you, in your opinion, exalt yourself, your pride will be humbled by the lord. But, if you remain humble, you will be exalted by the lord and placed nearer to himself. It is in a way, similar to the previous (4th) quote.
If you are attached to your earthly possessions, power and knowledge and take pride in them, the lord smiles and says – none of these are yours. Your only wealth is my love. Did you earn that?? The humbler you are as a human being, the more of his love will you earn.
6.    Yes I am with you always, until the very end of time.
MY COMMENTS: HE is with us and within us – always. Do we experience his presence right now?
How long will he be with us? Until the very end of time – which means, forever.
7.    Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.
MY COMMENTS: Of the many quotes, this one takes the cake – for our every day conduct. You can’t criticize another – until you wipe out all of your sins. Perhaps, Not even then. You must be totally sinless. And, who can be like that? Only the Almighty himself. Therefore, Do not criticize. You have all the right to love – but not to criticize.
8.    No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light.
MY COMMENTS: Unless you light a lamp, you will be in darkness. And, when you light a lamp, not only you, but others also will benefit. You be the lamp that brightens the whole world and spread your bright smile every where.
9.    Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence. Love others as well as you love yourself
MY COMMENTS: Love the God with all passion, prayer and intelligence. Your thought, emotion, word and deed must all converge in your love of God. Your Love for others must be as deep as your love for your self. It is almost a continuation of quote.3-Do unto others as you would have them do unto you..
10.                      Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
MY COMMENTS : Jesus says - Live in me, let me live in you, says the Lord. Let us remember, God is LOVE. Love is GOD. If we keep the love of all in our hearts, we live in him and he lives in us too.
11.                      If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.
MY COMMENTS : What must be within us is already clear. Love of all must fill our hearts; but, that is not enough. You must bring forth and spread all around you, what is within you. The love you spread around, the kindness you display will save you too.
What does not come out into the open, disappears within too. If your love does not find expression – it will slowly die out within us too. Where LOVE is not, GOD is not. Where God is not, there, the opposite of LOVE creeps in and destroys you.
12.                      Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for "of such is the kingdom of heaven.";  Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for "of such is the kingdom of heaven.
MY COMMENTS : Heaven is of children.  Be child like –as smiling,  loving and playful. You have earned the right to enter heaven.
13.                      Love thy enemies
MY COMMENTS : ‘Love thy neighbor’ is a great precept. But, if your neighbor is a good, soft, lovable man, there is no great challenge in loving him.
It is normal. It is ordinary. It is nothing exceptional. But, ‘Love thy enemies’ – is the tough precept. This one really exalts you in the eyes of the Lord.
14.                      There are many, many adorable quotes of Jesus Christ, like the one saying, Split a piece of wood and I am there; It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.

All these  quotes are the hall mark of the great savior that Jesus Christ is. This Blog wishes all readers a happy and merry Christmas on this great occasion of Christmas.

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